Miniature Brains in Dish Offer Insight into Brain Development

Study in a Sentence: Researchers converted skin cells from patients with Miller-Dieker disorder, a rare brain development condition, into stem cells which were then grown in a dish to form partial brain tissues. Using this method, the researchers were able to learn why brain cells from these patients do not develop properly to form the normal 3-D structures typically seen in developing brains.

Healthy for Humans: These brain organoids developed from human cells can help scientists to better understand human brain development and disorders that arise from problems in this process. The organoids can also be used to test drugs that may affect the human brain development process.

Redefining Research: Unlike animal models or 2-D cell cultures, these brain organoids provide a tool to study the complexity of human brain development in 3-D that is highly reminiscent of the process in the human embryo. Moreover, this organoid model identified a developmental defect in Miller-Dieker disorder not observable in animal models or 2-D cell cultures.